Resetting Laguna Niguel's 'crown jewel' park

2013-08-15 08:37:40

Since its initial, minimalist construction in the 1970s, Crown Valley Community Park grew to become Laguna Niguel's "crown jewel," city leaders said.

Softball and soccer fields were slowly added; what was at first a small vegetable garden in 1981 is now the burgeoning 18-acre Niguel Botanical Preserve, with specialty plants from around the world. An outdoor amphitheater hosts a popular summer concert series and, recently, a Shakespeare play. The local YMCA shares the property, too.

More than three decades after its inception, however, city leaders say the park looks tired.

It's not that it hasn't been well-maintained, says Deputy City Manager Pam Lawrence – the grass is lush, the pool clean.

But the old community center built in 1979 is out of date and doesn't meet seismic standards. The decade-old play structure is small and lacks some popular features. Parking comes at a premium, and it can be tough to navigate the oddly shaped lot.

The wear and tear is no surprise: a quarter-million people use the park annually, the city says.

A survey of several hundred users found they agreed – the park needed some help, particularly with traffic flow, the community center and trails.

"It just needs a facelift," says Councilman Jerry Slusiewicz, who serves on the city's park ad-hoc committee. "There's so much more that we can do with it."

It also turns out that neighboring cities are modernizing their parks in a dramatic way – Mission Viejo recently upgraded its tennis and aquatic centers – and Laguna Niguel took notice.

"When we went to look at Mission Viejo, it made our facilities look pretty shabby," said Councilwoman Linda Lindholm, who also serves on the committee.

The City Council recently approved $1.75 million for the first phase of a park master plan that, in the shorter term, would replace the community center, widen the entry road, add parking, create a hiking and mountain biking trail, and install a restroom and more seating for the amphitheater.

In the longer, 10-year range, the plan calls for expanding the park to a largely undeveloped, hilly tract of land on the northernmost edge.

"I don't think that vision (for that area) is quite clear yet," said Slusiewicz, who has spent plenty of time at the park coaching club soccer. The area might be more nature-oriented, and include a Frisbee golf course.

The consultant on the project for two years, MIG, proposed a road and parking area reaching into the undeveloped property, along with an open grassy park space. Some of those ideas were recently deemed unrealistic by the council, however.

Within the next year, Lawrence said, residents can expect to see a restroom near the amphitheater, so they no longer have to use the pool locker rooms. A new playground – to include a water feature for kids – will also be installed, alongside a rugged 1-mile "goat trail," she said. The trail will hook into the existing Salt Creek Trail on either end.

Many of the upgrades won't be cheap. Consulting and preliminary design alone on the bridge and entryway over Sulphur Creek will run taxpayers as much as $100,000, city documents state. Estimates from the consultant say the rugged trail will cost at least $112,000.

A new community center and improvements to the pool area will be the most costly, at close to $10 million, according to preliminary estimates. Actual construction of the center may still be years away.

Slusiewicz said he hopes most of the upgrades are fully completed within five years.

"It's an asset to our community, whether you use it or not," he said of the park. "You've got to keep it up. If you don't, you start looking – and it looks – a little worn, it looks a little tattered."